UN Says U.S. Legally Must Still Fund Agencies After Trump Withdraws From Dozens

NEW YORK (AP) — The United Nations has a “legal obligation” to continue paying dues that fund U.N. agencies, the United Nations’ top official said Thursday, after the White House announced it did so. Withdrawal of support from more than 30 initiatives undertaken by the world body.

Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he regretted President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from membership. 31 UN-related organizationsIncluding the UN’s population agency and the UN treaty establishing international climate negotiations. The US will also leave dozens of other global organizations or initiatives that are not affiliated with the UN

“As we have repeatedly emphasized, contributions to the United Nations regular budget and the peacekeeping budget approved by the General Assembly are a legal obligation under the UN Charter for all Member States, including the United States,” Guterres’ spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement. he said.

He added that the targeted UN agencies would continue their work despite the statement: “The United Nations has a responsibility to serve those who trust us.”

The strong response from the UN comes after the world body spent much of the past year in a somewhat hostile and fractious back-and-forth with US officials focused on eliminating billions of dollars in aid and funding to international organizations such as the UN and humanitarian aid in general following Trump’s return to office.

Through many conciliatory public and closed-door appeals, U.N. officials, including Guterres, were able to persuade Trump and his allies not to completely abandon the institution that the United States helped build on the ashes of World War II. $2 billion deal for humanitarian aid It was announced last month. But America’s withdrawal had influenced other Western countries, including France and Britain, to re-evaluate their humanitarian aid funds, with many shifting that money towards military spending.

But Wednesday’s announcement surprised the UN’s top diplomats, who said they learned of the withdrawal from news reports and the White House’s social media. Dujarric told reporters there was no official communication from the Trump administration outlining the decision.

Many UN officials have refused to comment on the impact on their agencies because they have not been given detailed information or an official statement from anyone in the US government.

After a year-long review of participation and funding in all international organizations, Trump signed an executive order suspending American support for 66 groups, institutions and commissions.

Many of the targets are U.N.-related agencies, commissions and advisory panels focused on climate, labor, migration and other issues that the Trump administration has categorized as diversity-serving and “woke” initiatives.

The administration had previously suspended support. World Health OrganizationThe UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, the UN Human Rights Council and UN cultural agency UNESCO. Took a larger a la carte approach to pay dues to the world body, Which operations and agencies to choose? He believes he is compatible with Trump’s agenda and agendas that are no longer compatible serving US interests.

Some of the affected institutions, including the U.N. Population Fund, which provides sexual and reproductive health services around the world, have long served as a lightning rod for Republican opposition, and Trump cut funding for that fund during his first term.

withdrawal from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change or UNFCCCThis comes as little surprise, as Trump and his allies have previously withdrawn US support from other climate initiatives.

The agreement reached in 1992 among 198 countries to financially support climate change activities in developing countries is the agreement that forms the basis of the landmark Paris climate agreement. Trump withdrew from that agreement shortly after returning to the White House.

UNFCCC secretary-general Simon Stiell warned the US that the withdrawal would “damage the US economy, jobs and living standards as wildfires, floods, major storms and droughts worsen rapidly.”

“As with the Paris Agreement in the past, the door remains open for the United States to re-enter the future,” he said in the statement. “Meanwhile, the scale of commercial opportunities in clean energy, climate change resilience, and advanced electrode technology are too great for American investors and businesses to ignore.”

The UN’s regular budget, which funds its day-to-day operations and core activities, is financed by its 193 member countries, each of which pays a percentage based on the size of its economy. The United States, the world’s largest economy, is expected to pay 22 percent, followed by China with 20 percent. There is a separate budget to fund UN peacekeeping operations, and the US must pay 25% of it.

UN officials said the US did not pay its annual contribution to the regular budget last year, an obligation outlined in the UN charter. The penalty for the United States for not paying dues is loss of votes in the General Assembly.

“This contract is not a la carte,” Dujarric said. “We will not renegotiate the statute”